Liver problems have become an epidemic in most parts of the world. If you want to look after your liver and avoid developing a liver disease, you need to know what harms the liver and what heals it. In our modern lifestyles there are so many factors that can adversely affect the liver. Fortunately there are also many solutions.

Things that can harm your liver

  • Too much alcohol
  • A diet too high in carbohydrate and processed foods, especially sugar and seed oils
  • Weight excess, especially held on the abdomen
  • A leaky gut
  • Excess iron in the liver
  • Excess medications especially anti-inflammatory drugs, acetaminophen/paracetamol, and other pain killers
  • Parasites such as liver flukes or worms
  • Viruses such as hepatitis A, B and C, cytomegalovirus and Epstein Barr virus
  • Auto-immune diseases of the liver or connective tissue
  • Contamination from heavy metals, pesticides, plastics, flame retardants and other chemicals

How to protect your liver

  • Try to base your diet on whole foods that don’t have an ingredients list, such as meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and natural fats. Try to minimize packaged and processed foods. Follow the eating plan in the book Fatty Liver: You Can Reverse It.
  • Autoimmune disease is incredibly common. Most people with autoimmune disease feel significantly better when they eliminate gluten, dairy products, sugar, legumes and nightshade vegetables.
  • Keep your weight in the healthy range. Having a slim waist becomes more important as you get older because fat stored there can infiltrate your liver and inflame it.
  • If you have excess iron levels (ferritin) in your blood, become a regular blood donor and you will see the levels come down.
  • Take a vitamin C supplement to reduce free radicals attacking your liver.
  • The herb Milk Thistle has been proven to reduce liver damage in hundreds of clinical trials. You need a daily dose that supplies 420mg of silymarin daily, which is found in Livatone Plus
  • Selenium can help the liver in many ways and is a powerful liver protector. Selenium is a mineral which is able to enhance the repair of damage to the DNA in the nucleus and mitochondria of the liver cells. It also reduces the ability of viruses to replicate (increase in numbers) in your cells.

N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is an amino-acid derivative (small protein) with over 40 years of scientific research to back it up. NAC’s powerful health benefits derive from its ability to restore intracellular levels of glutathione, which is the body’s most powerful naturally produced internal antioxidant. Glutathione helps the liver to protect you against toxicity, and it is most needed by those with liver inflammation. The stress of chronic liver inflammation depletes glutathione, and this is why supplementing with its main precursor NAC, helps those with liver inflammation to protect against ongoing liver damage. NAC is a modified form of the sulfur-containing amino acid cysteine. NAC replenishes intracellular levels of glutathione (GSH), which restores your cells’ ability to fight damage from free radicals known as reactive oxygen species. NAC may be able to help those with chronic degenerative problems, including liver and lung inflammation. NAC neutralizes toxins and pollutants including heavy metals that accumulate in the liver, kidneys and fatty parts of the body.

Oral glutathione supplements are not well absorbed from the gut, as it is broken down by digestive enzymes before it has a chance to be absorbed. For this reason it is far more effective to take its precursor (building block). NAC is the most important precursor to glutathione synthesis. NAC is easily absorbed from the gut and is rapidly turned into glutathione.

Many researchers have come to the conclusion that a deficiency of liver glutathione is one of the leading factors that allow liver disease to progress. The liver cells of people with chronic liver disease are continually overworked as they fight toxins and free radicals and it is mainly glutathione which can protect them from severe damage or cell death. There are no known contraindications to NAC. In some people NAC can cause some indigestion, so make sure you always take it with a full glass of water. NAC is best absorbed when taken away from food.

Raw juicing can accelerate the repair of liver damage and improve immune function. Good things to juice include kale, cabbage, carrot, beet, ginger, lime, lemon, parsley, basil, and cilantro. Check out my Raw Juices Can Save Your Life book for lots of raw juice recipes.

Fermented foods high in probiotics can also help and include miso, kefir, sauerkraut, and kim chi are able to improve gut health and thus reduce liver inflammation. If you don’t regularly consume those foods, Floratone probiotic capsules can help.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.